So, you’re planning a trip to Copenhagen and wondering which Copenhagen Card plan to purchase. I took a trip in May and spent 5 days (but more like 4.5 days) in the city and its surroundings area with the 96h discover card. It wasn’t enough time to cover everything I wanted to do but I think I did a decent chunk of things and got a pretty good experience of the city. You’ll be able to visit the major attractions of the city with 2-3 full days but if you also want to explore sights outside of the city, 5-7 days will allow you to see and experience more than the average tourist.
Where to stay
The best place to stay would be near the city center and somewhere near a train/metro station so that you can easily travel around. It does get quite pricey to stay close to the city center so you can also consider the outer districts like Nørrebro, Østerbro, and Vanløse. We stayed at an Airbnb in Valby which is about 15 minutes from Copenhagen Central Station.
Day 1
- Tip: You may want to plan your tour of Copenhagen by splitting the city in half (north and south). You can cover one half of the area per day. We covered the southern half in Day 1 and northern half in Day 2.
We arrived in Copenhagen in the late morning and settled into our apartment. After grabbing some lunch from nearby our residence, we headed into the city to start our exploration of Copenhagen. We activated our card at 2pm so it would expire at 2pm on Day 5, giving us time to enter a couple more attractions with the last few hours.
Our first stop is the Museum of Copenhagen, which is a 10 minute walk from Copenhagen Central Station. The museum has a few exhibits including one about the history of the city so if you’re curious about how Copenhagen became such a bustling city, you can pen this into your itinerary. The museum itself is beautiful and surprisingly big. Entry is included in the Copenhagen Card and we spent about an hour here.
From the museum, we walked about 10 minutes to Christiansborg Palace. There are a total of 4 attractions you can enter in this area with the Copenhagen Card – The Royal Palace, The Royal Stables, The Royal Kitchen and the Ruins Under. We spent about 2 hours going through the attractions here.
Next, we walked over to Nyhavn where you can take pictures of the iconic canal and colorful buildings. Take care of your belongings here because it is exceptionally crowded. There are pickpockets and tourist traps so be mindful. We had wanted to take a boat tour with Netto Boats, which is included in the card, but we couldn’t find the boarding point so we decided to move on to the next destination.
We decided to end our city tour with a walk to Kastellet. It is a citadel that is part of the fortification of Copenhagen. On the map, it appears as a pentagon with bastioned ramparts so it is pretty interesting to walk around. The Little Mermaid is located in the park around it and there is also a citadel church and windmill in Kastellet. Entry is free and we spent about an hour walking here. [Do note that Kastellet is located in the northern half of the city so it is quite a long walk (~1.6km) away from Nyhavn. You may want to cover it another day.]
Day 2
Today, we will be covering the attractions in the northern half of the city. First, we went to Rosenborg Castle, which is included in the Copenhagen Card. You will need to reserve a timeslot to visit the interior so make sure you do that before going. We didn’t know we had to reserve a time so we ended up having to wait a bit.
We took a stroll around the castle gardens for about half an hour and visited the Botanical Gardens which is located in close proximity to the castle. The Copenhagen Card grants you entry to the greenhouses, including the butterfly garden. Otherwise, the outdoor area is free to roam. Coming from the tropical country of Singapore, we were not very impressed with the greenhouses so we walked through it pretty fast. After completing the Botanical Garden, we had a quick lunch and went back to Rosenborg Castle to for our tour.
From the castle, you can take a bus (public transport is free with the Copenhagen Card) to Amalienborg to continue your tour of royal palaces. The palace closes pretty early (usually around 3-4pm) so make sure to give yourself enough time to reach the palace. Entry closes 30 minutes before closing time. We spent about 30 minutes here and it is included in the Copenhagen Card.
We ended our day at Tivoli Gardens – a 19th century amusement park. The Copenhagen Card grants you entry to the park but tickets for rides have to be purchased separately. The park is truly beautiful to walk around and experience. There are a lot of food choices here so you may wish to have an early dinner or snack.
You may choose to cover Kastellet and The Little Mermaid today instead.
Day 3
Escape the city for some outdoor fun. If you are a fan of Vikings or Viking history, Lejre Land of Legends is legendary and a unique place to visit. It is a 106-acre open-air museum with so much to see and do. We spent the entire day here from 10:30am to 4pm.
Entry and public transport to the place is included in your Copenhagen Card. It takes about an hour to get here from the city.
If you don’t find yourself spending as much time there, you can also add these nearby attractions which are included in the Copenhagen Card: Roskilde Cathedral, Viking Ship Museum, Lejre Museum.
Day 4
There are more fairytale castles outside of the city. Take an hour journey to Helsingor and visit Kronborg Castle. I found the castle to be pretty interactive with props that visitors are allowed to touch and play with, and a vast underground tunnel/dungeon system with minimal to no light so you can have a realistic experience.
After your visit to the castle, hop over to the Maritime Museum, which you would have already passed by on the way to the castle. Entry is included in the Copenhagen Card and we spent about an hour in the museum.
Other interesting (free) things to do in the area include Jægersborg Dyrehave, which is a deer park, and The Hermitage Hunting Lodge located in the middle of Dyrehave.
Day 5
Our card expires today at 2pm which gives us plenty of time to travel and enter a couple of attractions. We visited the Frederiksborg Castle, located an hour away from Copenhagen, in Hillerød. The card also includes a ride on the Frederiksborg Ferry, which is located just outside the castle.
We spent half a day here leisurely exploring the castle grounds and garden since our card was expiring. If you are up for more, head to Fredensborg Palace, which is about 40 minutes away, for more splendid royal sights. Do note that the palace and private gardens are closed for most of the year. Otherwise, you’ll still be able to enjoy the view of the palace and walk through the garden.
Thanks for reading! I hope this post has given you a rough idea of what you can accomplish with your card and help you determine how much time you’ll need to spend in Copenhagen. Have a fun trip!
